🗳SERIOUS POLL—If there are no more federal pandemic funds, and another winter #COVID wave is likely imminent, ➡️how would you pay for the fall 2022 #BA5 booster campaign from existing HHS budget?
(Asking because I know cannibalizing cuts are v likely. Follow for details soon).
(Asking because I know cannibalizing cuts are v likely. Follow for details soon).
2) Followup— insurance coverage is being discussed but that won’t start until 2023. So that isn’t an option yet to help pay for booster shots. And making it not free will hurt vaccine uptake this fall. So insurance is not the solution or even an option right now.
3) Forgoing fall #BA5 boosters is not a good idea. We know a winter wave is likely coming. We can either sit and do nothing or do something. And cannibalizing the HHS budget is painful but at this point it is likely inevitable, short of some miracle in more Congress funding.
4) Also, you can’t take money from DOD or other Congressional salaries or anything like that. Congress’s budget by Department is locked in. You can cut & shift some money within HHS, but it can’t come from Medicare or Medicaid. HHS is in a rock and a hard place unfortunately.
5) Also, the 2022 budget is already locked. You can’t change 2022 money anymore. Congress can’t do 2023 budget negotiations until Dec according to sources. So writing into the budget for fall 2022 is not an option.
6) The US is already making difficult cuts to free rapid home tests. You can’t order anymore after this Friday. Final call to place online orders if you haven’t done so yet.
https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1564111130850639873
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